ONGOLE: Officials on Wednesday successfully rescued two minors from a bonded labour in an aquaculture industry in Karavadi village, near Ongole.
The minors, a boy and a girl from Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh, were stranded by the company, which had taken their mobile phones and withheld their wages for over two months.
They were threatened with severe consequences if they tried to return home without the company’s consent. While six of the eight labourers from Madhya Pradesh had returned home, these two minors were left behind in harsh conditions.
In response to this, the Prakasam District Bonded Labour Vigilance Committee, established in 2014 to eliminate bonded and child labour, launched its first successful rescue operation. The minors’ coworkers, who had returned home, alerted the authorities, prompting swift action. District Collector, A Thameem Ansariya, directed the Ongole Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Lakshmi Prasanna to lead the operation.
Later, the District Collector met with the minors, presented them relief certificates, and directed the RDO to arrange for their safe return to MP.